With Smash Bros. Ultimate right on the horizon, I am experiencing my usual case of wondering if it’s way too late for me to get on that ship.
I sat down with Kotaku’s Maddy Myers to figure out if now is the time for me to start playing Smash or if I should just be OK with being the little sibling who gets an unplugged controller so I can feel like I’m “participating.”
Fighting games have always intrigued me, and the communities surrounding them even more so. Part of the allure is that these games require an impressive amount of skill to hold your own.
I’ve dabbled casually with my friends in Street Fighter, SoulCalibur, Tekken and even Smash Bros., and of those games, Smash has always intrigued me the most. It’s accessible enough to enjoy casually but it’s also mind-blowing to see players who have mastered characters go to work.
Check out the full video or read a short excerpt here:
Maddy: It sounds like you have an internal perception because Smash is this pre-existing franchise, everybody else is going to be coming into the game with an assumed knowledge that you don’t have. So you’re assuming that because you haven’t played every other Super Smash Bros. that you can’t even jump on board now. And I wonder if that’s a Super Smash Bros. problem or it’s “a fighting games are intimidating” problem? What do you think is stopping you?
Paul: I think it’s more of that fighting game stuff. I’ve always been fascinated and intrigued as an outsider looking in to the Street Fighter scene, like “this is that Street Fighter that I’m totally going to get into,” and then you play it and there are people who have been playing Ken for like 10 years, and they’re just going to smack you on day one.
Maddy: Or at least that’s how it feels. There’s also that allure when a new competitive game comes out, like “this is the competitive game that I become an esports pro in because I’m gonna be there on day one,” but it’s never actually happened that way for me.
Usually what does happen to me is, I wind up becoming good at a game because a lot of people I know happen to be playing it. It doesn’t matter if it’s old or it just came out. If the people in my life are playing it a lot, that’s how I keep up with the meta and what’s happening in that scene.
That doesn’t necessarily have to do with when a game comes out. But at the same time, I get what you’re saying. It feels intimidating to try and get into a game that it seems that everybody already understands.
This episode of Viewpoints and previous ones are also in this handy YouTube playlist so you can have something on in the background while you practice that new air dodge.
Comments
2 responses to “Don’t Be Intimidated By Super Smash Bros Ultimate”
Never seen a video with Maddie in it before. She’s so elequent and comfortable on camera! Wil be seeking out more of her stuff. Great stuff guys.
The thing with Smash is it has enough content for casual players compared to other fighting games. It sounds like Paul doesn’t want to play if he can’t be competitive.
It’s never too late for Smash because you can take it as seriously as you want. I’m a competitive person when it comes to some games but I realise I’ll never be a good fighting game player. I will probably never play an online 1 v 1 in Smash but I am still looking forward to it. It’s a game I can play with friends who don’t game that much but still have a blast. Even if I become better than them I can play more chaotic modes i.e. turn on a lot of items and everyone still feels like they are having fun and able to play the game without getting beaten mercilessly.